Francisco Guillermo Ochoa Magana is a professional football player from Mexico who plays as a goalkeeper. Ochoa is a product of the famed youth system at Club America where he broke into the first team at the age of 18, in 2003.
At the 2004 Clausura tournament, Ochoa made his debut against CF Monterrey where he showed glimpses of the potential that got him into the team in the first place. Ochoa took a more permanent role of playing the replacement keeper especially when Adolfo Rios got injured. Sharing the starting role with Rios, Club America decided to mould Ochoa into the role of the starting keeper, under Rios’ guidance. Slowly, the young keeper reached the top level and when Rios retired in 2004, Club America already had a keeper ready in Ochoa.
A change in coach saw Oscar Ruggeri take over the top job at the club, which meant the end of Ochoa’s reign at the top of the goalkeeper pile. Diego Sebastian Saja came in from Argentina to take that spot and Ochoa was placed as a backup once again.
| Position | Goalkeeper |
| Height / weight | 1.85 m / 80 kg |
| Born | 13 Jul 1985 |
| Nationality |
Mexico
|
| Nickname | Memo |
| Number | 13 |
| Team History | |
| US Salernitana 1919 | 2023 - present |
Club America
|
2019 - 2022 |
Standard Liege
|
2017 - 2019 |
Granada
|
2016 - 2017 (loan) |
Malaga
|
2014 - 2017 |
AC Ajaccio
|
2011 - 2014 |
|
Club America
|
2004 - 2011 |
|
San Luis
|
2004 (loan) |
|
Club America
|
2003 |
Six games into the new season, Ruggeri got fired and soon after, new coach Mario Carrillo decided to reinstate Ochoa to the top spot with immediate effect. Since then, Ochoa has been one of the only two players to have played every single game for Club America, along with Jose Antonio Castro, barring injuries and international duty.
Ochoa won the 2005 Clausura tournament title with Club America as well as the “Campeon de Campeones” or “Champion of Champions” title the same year. In 2006, he won the CONCACAF Champions Cup with Club America while also winning the 2008 Interliga title.
At the international level, Ochoa got his first call up in 2005. He was named as the third choice goalkeeper on the 2006 FIFA World Cup in Germany before taking up the number two spot after the world cup, behind Oswaldo Sanchez.
Ochoa played, and won third place, in the 2007 Copa America while finishing second in the 2007 edition of the CONCACAF Gold Cup before winning it in 2009.
In 2008, Ochoa was voted as the 11th best goalkeeper in the world while he made his debut for the 2010 World Cup Qualification squad in 2009, in a 2-0 win over Costa Rica. Ochoa has made almost 190 appearances for Club America while his international appearances for the Mexican national team stand at almost 35.
